Politicians bending reality on refugees: church leader

Peter Catt

The news that the Coalition will refuse settlement to genuine refugees already in Australia sees the approach to the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees heading for a new low. One can only fear what the current government will do in an attempt to win this destructive competition.

Our politicians have colluded to cement what I refer to as Australia's Pocket Universe. Both sides of politics have now agreed to spin the same tale. They have agreed in the telling of a particular story - a story well-supported by the opinion polls and the media.

In a Pocket Universe reality as we know it is suspended, or rather a new reality is created. The time-travel-enabled world of Dr Who is a Pocket Universe, as are the story worlds created by Disney. Pocket Universes operate to their own set of rules and truths: gravity can be defied, animals can talk to humans or people can fly.

The human capacity to create Pocket Universes is testament to the power of narrative. We can tell ourselves a story and then live as if it were true. We can create our own reality.

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For years powerful forces in the media and political parties have been spinning an untrue story about asylum seekers, and an equally untrue story about us as a nation. We describe ourselves as generous and compassionate. Generous and compassionate but also battling to cope; battling to cope with an invasion. Asylum seekers are illegal and queue jumpers; economic migrants supported in their mischief by nasty 'people smugglers' and an outdated international convention. The smugglers are so wicked, and we are so at risk from an invading force of overwhelming proportions that, as generous and compassionate as we are, we need to set the military on them. This story has become our truth and as a result good, decent people have become concerned and so want our leaders to take decisive action.

An untruthful portrayal of asylum seekers has become our truth. In our Pocket Universe those fleeing torture and persecution have become self-interested opportunists, illegally invading our generous nation, swarming over our borders and swamping our communities. By seeking to jump the queue, they have affronted our sense of fair play.

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Over the past few weeks, PNG and Nauru have stepped into and affirmed our Pocket Universe. Prime Minister Peter O'Neil has been portraying PNG as a nation more capable then we of housing those who come from across the seas. He has played to our self-understanding as a nation under pressure.

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The universe I inhabit has little in common with the Pocket Universe created by media and politicians.

In my daily life, I speak with colleagues who deal with people from PNG who are seeking asylum having been subject to domestic violence. These women are smuggled out of that country by friends and underground networks. These people smugglers, like Oskar Schindler of World War II and Australian Bruce Haigh, are heroes - life savers.

In my universe, I hear stories from those who took the process of seeking freedom into their own hands because they had discovered that there is no queue.

In my universe, we interact regularly with people who fear for family members who have not been able to escape the terror of home and spend their days hiding.

In my universe, PNG and Nauru are countries that deserve our support and encouragement rather than exploitation. Nations that needs our help to address basic health and civic needs. PNG is a nation that needs our resources to tackle domestic violence. And a nation that needs to be challenged to be more accepting of minority religions and to overturn legislation that provides for gay people to be imprisoned for 14 years.

In my universe, I have already heard of the asylum seekers in Indonesia who are saying that they will get on boats to Australia because PNG is better than nowhere.

In my universe, the only hope we have of stopping the devastating loss of asylum seekers at sea is to work quickly and purposefully for genuine regional processing. This would include ensuring that those who are processed know that they will soon have a new home.

In my universe, the bipartisanship that Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser demonstrated in their approach towards Indochinese refugees in the 1970s stands as a symbol of hope; a beacon which might yet draw our current politicians out of the Pocket Universe our nation has created for itself.

In my universe, compassion and generosity still loom large as values that can make Australia Australia.

Sadly, we don't live in the world of Dr Who or Disneyland, and happily ever after can only be true for us if we are prepared to help others to discover their freedom.

On a daily basis we look into the eyes of those who wake from nightmares or live with fear for loved ones lost or left behind. Terrorised people who wonder why this nation, which longs to see itself as compassionate, hates and fears them so deeply.

* Peter Catt is an Anglican priest currently serving as Dean of St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. He is a member of a number of environmental and human rights organisations and serves on Anglican Social Justice Committees at both diocesan and national level. He is president of A Progressive Christian Voice and is a member of the Australian Churches Taskforce of Refugees.